WOMEN IN MATHEMATICS 161 



cause her to neglect the duties of her household or to disre- 

 gard ' ' the graceful and artistic accomplishments of an ele- 

 gant woman of the world." Her daughter Martha writes 

 of her : ' ' It would be almost incredible were I to describe 

 how much my mother contrived to do in the course of the 

 day. When my sister and I were small children, although 

 busily engaged in writing for the press, she used to teach 

 us for three hours in the morning, besides managing her 

 house carefully, reading the newspapers for she was al- 

 ways a keen and, I must add, a liberal politician and the 

 most important new books on all subjects, grave and gay. 

 In addition to this, she freely visited and received her 

 friends. . . . Gay and cheerful company was a pleas- 

 ant relaxation after a hard day's work." 1 



The life of Mary Somerville, like that of Gaetana Agnesi, 

 proves that the pursuit of science is not, as so often as- 

 serted, incompatible with domestic and social duties. It 

 also disposes of the fallacy, so generally entertained, that 

 intellectual labor is detrimental to the health of women and 

 antagonistic to longevity. The truth is that it is yet to be 

 demonstrated that intellectual work, even of the severest 

 kind, is, per se, more deleterious to women than to those of 

 the stronger sex. 



Scarcely less remarkable as a mathematician was Mrs. 

 Somerville 's distinguished contemporary, Janet Taylor, 

 who was known as the "Mrs. Somerville of the Marine 

 World. ' ' She was the author of numerous works on navi- 

 gation and nautical astronomy which in their day were 

 highly prized by seafaring men. In recognition of her 

 valuable services to the marine world she was placed on 

 the civil list of the British government. 



As an eminent mathematician as well as a "representa- 

 tive of the highest intellectual accomplishments to which 

 women have attained, ' ' Sonya Kovalevsky will ever occupy 

 an honored place among the votaries of science. In many 

 i Personal Recollections, ut sup., p. 5. 



